refurbished ipads?

[ktgrok]

So, my son's scholarship for special needs paid for him to have an ipad which he uses to fill in worksheets, create notebooking pages, read ebooks on, etc. It's REALLY been amazing for him in a lot of ways. My kid that would do the least work possible spends tons of time now on assignments, playing with the digital art features, etc.

But now, I want one! I'm using it with Notability to take notes on the church bulliten that I can actually organize and store digitally rather than leave all over my desk, I'm using it to annotate things for my editor for my writing, etc. 

But I can't justify buying a new, state of the art one like my son got. My husband does have one too, a bit of an older model, so I may just use his for now since he is working from home, and it's always here. But evntually I think I want my own. One I can dock to a keyboard, and use an apple pencil with. (and I admit, I LOVE that on the newest version that my son has,  the ipencil charges just whenever you stick it in the storage slot on the front of the Ipad! Perfect for absent minded ADHD types!)

So is it that much better a deal to get a refurbished one? 

What things will I NOT use an ipad for, and need my laptop for? I write my books in Scrivener, which as of now does not have an ipad app, so that would still be my laptop. But I'm not seeing much else I'd need my laptop for? (and I do have notability for my macbook, but it is NO WHERE NEAR as good as the ipad version). 

[maize]

I've bought refurbished or just used off of eBay; has worked well for us.

I always buy computers refurbished as well. My family does not need up-to-the-minute tech.

With iPads, I'd look for a version not more than two years or so old; those should be supported for several years yet.

[Katy]

If you can wait until Black Friday you can buy one on BestBuy.com new for less than the price of a refurbished one.

[ktgrok]

28 minutes ago, Katy said:

If you can wait until Black Friday you can buy one on BestBuy.com new for less than the price of a refurbished one.

oh! good idea. 

[mumto2]

We have bought several refurbished iPads and have had no problems with them.  They are older models......my kids both have them.  Very occasionally they can’t do something my 2yo Black Friday special can do but that’s pretty rare.

 

eta Refurbished was cheaper than the Black Friday new ones.

Edited August 20, 2020 by mumto2

[Spy Car]

Can you use the Camelcamel alert system to notify you about price drops? I can not. 

By pure stupid-dumb luck I got a new 7th Gen (regular) 32 gig iPad for $229 last January.

My 10 year old iPad 1 was on its last legs--but I wasn't "in the market." Just happened to run across a one day deal/steal and couldn't pass it up.

We won the original iPad in a raffle, but they were almost $800 in 2009 dollars.

I see Walmart has the same one for $275 new. Pretty good price. Apple's refurbs cost as much.

 

Bill

[Carol in Cal.]

Don’t know about refurbished, but if you have Verizon with unlimited data, you might consider getting a big one with phone capability.  I did that about 2-3 years ago, and it was tremendously helpful when I needed to SIP.  I activated the phone part of it, which was quite inexpensive, and ended up with essentially a second computer that also doubles as a hot spot for my main laptop.  It also has all the app capabilities of a normal phone or tablet, and a great camera.  The only thing I really haven’t been able to figure out how to do well with it is print or scan. 

The newest one looks even better.  I’m sorely tempted.

[Spy Car]

14 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Don’t know about refurbished, but if you have Verizon with unlimited data, you might consider getting a big one with phone capability.  I did that about 2-3 years ago, and it was tremendously helpful when I needed to SIP.  I activated the phone part of it, which was quite inexpensive, and ended up with essentially a second computer that also doubles as a hot spot for my main laptop.  It also has all the app capabilities of a normal phone or tablet, and a great camera.  The only thing I really haven’t been able to figure out how to do well with it is print or scan. 

The newest one looks even better.  I’m sorely tempted.

Playing Devil's Advocate, since most people already have phones that can create a WiFi hot spot, is it worth the considerable extra expense to pay for a cellular model iPad and then have to pay for additional monthly celular charges?

Bill

 

[Spy Car]

Some advantages to newer Gen 7 iPads are that they have a larger screen and they have the Smart Connection feature which allows the simple attachment of external keyboards (etc) which was long limited to the more expensive Pro edition iPads.

Bill

 

[KungFuPanda]

Oh man, I need to do this. My beloved iPad 2 hasn’t been updated in years, but it houses all of my music and I can keep adding kindle books. I really should move stuff before a disaster occurs. 

[Katy]

You can always google what black Friday deals were in your area a year ago.  Many of the sites have those archived.  That might give you a better idea of what kind of savings you'd be looking at.  2 years ago we got a new one for $199 on Black Friday from Best Buy after a child's vision therapist recommended it.  It may have even been $179 and I put it in a $30 toddler proof case, because I think my budget for kids that year was $300, and I remember going over it with the other presents for that kid and talking to DH about it beforehand, but deciding it was something needed so worth it.  It surprised me because they were sold out at the store, but many available on the website after the kids went to bed.

[Carol in Cal.]

3 hours ago, Spy Car said:

Playing Devil's Advocate, since most people already have phones that can create a WiFi hot spot, is it worth the considerable extra expense to pay for a cellular model iPad and then have to pay for additional monthly celular charges?

Bill

 

Yes, the IPad works better and faster as a hot spot than either DH’s or my smart phones (both Androids).  Also, since it is not using the hot spot feature but rather it’s own unlimited phone line/data when using it directly as a computer, that is a more reliable connection when the Verizon service is overloaded and hot spots are very slow or not working at all.  It’s not all that expensive for the extra line, either.  I set this up in March or April, and as a second line on my husband’s service it costs me only $32/month including device insurance.  WEP since I need continuous computer access for my business, and all of the local internet services (satellite) are too slow for streaming (and hence questionable for Zoom meetings) plus too spotty in the winter months to be fully reliable.  
 

It’s crucial if you want to use it this way to get the kind of folio or case that stands up the screen and has a normal keyboard.  I’ve got the biggest size IPad that they make, and it’s so thin even with the folio that it’s about the size of a Peechee folder.  I really lucked out in putting this capability onto my IPad long before I envisioned using it this way.

BTW, I did buy the pencil as well.  Mine requires plugging it into the IPad charging dock, from which it sticks out to the side alarmingly.  I love the newer ones that don’t require that.

[Spy Car]

6 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Yes, the IPad works better and faster as a hot spot than either DH’s or my smart phones (both Androids).  Also, since it is not using the hot spot feature but rather it’s own unlimited phone line/data when using it directly as a computer, that is a more reliable connection when the Verizon service is overloaded and hot spots are very slow or not working at all.  It’s not all that expensive for the extra line, either.  I set this up in March or April, and as a second line on my husband’s service it costs me only $32/month including device insurance.  WEP since I need continuous computer access for my business, and all of the local internet services (satellite) are too slow for streaming (and hence questionable for Zoom meetings) plus too spotty in the winter months to be fully reliable.  
 

It’s crucial if you want to use it this way to get the kind of folio or case that stands up the screen and has a normal keyboard.  I’ve got the biggest size IPad that they make, and it’s so thin even with the folio that it’s about the size of a Peechee folder.  I really lucked out in putting this capability onto my IPad long before I envisioned using it this way.

BTW, I did buy the pencil as well.  Mine requires plugging it into the IPad charging dock, from which it sticks out to the side alarmingly.  I love the newer ones that don’t require that.

I also got an Apple pencil (first edition) for my 7th Gen (standard) iPad and I'm with you--having the pen stick out of the lighting port to charge makes me koo-koo.

Seems so risky. I charge it when others sleep. LOL. Cool tool otherwise. 

Do you know what sort of speeds you get with the iPad's WiFi? Sounds like you found a good solution.

Bill

[City Mouse]

Quote

We have bought many refurbished Apple products and never had a problem with anything. I love my iPad mini. It is the perfect size for checking email, message boards, reading from the kindle app, playing a few games, watching shows by myself. It is light weight and fits in my purse easily. I even used it for two weeks last spring for online lessons with my student while my laptop was getting fixed. 

However, if you want the cool new pen, you have to get the newest model f the iPad Pro. I would love to get one, but I can’t justify the expense right now when the mini works well and I have a nice laptop,

[KungFuPanda]

5 hours ago, Spy Car said:

Playing Devil's Advocate, since most people already have phones that can create a WiFi hot spot, is it worth the considerable extra expense to pay for a cellular model iPad and then have to pay for additional monthly celular charges?

Bill

 

I'd vote no.  I've had mine for however long it's been since the iPad 2 came out.  There is wifi everywhere.  The number of times when I needed my ipad, when there was no wifi, AND the speed of my phone hotspot was a problem is zero.  Maybe it's different if you live somewhere with questionable internet coverage?